may have to have one of the horses put down friday......

Thank you so much. I will get the vet to check all those things. I mentioned about the portable neck xray, the vet says he's done neck xrays before. He's reluctant to travel him due to the fall risk. He's lost a lot of weight since December so his neck is a lot thinner :(
I checked a diagnostic wobblers site, he looks like he's a 3/5 perhaps a bit more :(
He wears the toes on front legs unevenly(but has fond this for many years), twists the hinds a bit walking uphill, stands with his legs in odd positions, walks exaggerated in front when his head is up (but he has always been a horse with a tendency to goose step, its been noted at lessons/comps), his tail is very limp, he almost falls if his tail is pulled to the side when walking, he stands all over himself if he turns quickly, he leans to ond side or against the wall.
He's not distressed by this, he is sound on hind legs.
I want to leave no stone un turned as I feel I cannot have him pts unless I feel ivd had everything checked first
:(
 
amandaco2 said:
Thank you so much. I will get the vet to check all those things. I mentioned about the portable neck xray, the vet says he's done neck xrays before. He's reluctant to travel him due to the fall risk. He's lost a lot of weight since December so his neck is a lot thinner :(
I checked a diagnostic wobblers site, he looks like he's a 3/5 perhaps a bit more :(
He wears the toes on front legs unevenly(but has fond this for many years), twists the hinds a bit walking uphill, stands with his legs in odd positions, walks exaggerated in front when his head is up (but he has always been a horse with a tendency to goose step, its been noted at lessons/comps), his tail is very limp, he almost falls if his tail is pulled to the side when walking, he stands all over himself if he turns quickly, he leans to ond side or against the wall.
He's not distressed by this, he is sound on hind legs.
I want to leave no stone un turned as I feel I cannot have him pts unless I feel ivd had everything checked first
:(
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Yes having a flaccid tail can be one of the symptoms (lack of tail tone). If you turn him in a circle his outside leg will swing wide. My horse would happily stand with one foot on top of the other all day as he had no idea of limb placement. Heartbreaking.

My horse rubbed his hind fetlocks together and made them sore so he had to wear sausage boots. In canter he would throw me up out of the saddle almost like a dissunited canter but much stronger and upwards rather than sidewards. He was high stepping on his front legs (someone once thought he had hackney in him) and very ocassionally he would leave his hinds behind and drag them through a jump - this was before he was diagnosed obviously.

Antonio Cruz from the University of Guelph has some very interesting articles about wobblers. I emailed him after losing my horse and he was very interesting to talk to and very helpful with my questions. This is a good link: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/horses/facts/info_wobbler.htm

This is an old reply of mine to a post from 2009, one of my first forays into this forum, when I was known as 'Bailey 14'..

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?301213-Wobblers-syndrome


This is also a very good site http://equinewobblers.com/
 
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applecart14 said:
I do hope it isn't wobblers, have they tested for EHV as this can also cause the ataxic symptoms your horse is displaying?

My 10 year old WB had wobblers. He fell onto his neck damaging his vetebrae, he was eventually diagnosed with CVM/Wobblers at Liverpool following a false diagnosis of EHV. He was pts after extensive neck xrays revealed compression at C3, C4 and C6 (C6 is worst possible outcome). I was very concerned about him falling and not being able to get up, i had visions of finding him in a puddle of mud in the field at the yard having lain there all night. I asked if he could stay as a field ornament as I loved him so very much but the consultant was worried about the danger of him falling on someone when they led him.

They would not let me be present in the padded PTS box as they felt that he was too dangerous as they had no way of anticipating which way he would fall as he was Grade 3 touching Grade 4 which is very badly affected horse. So I said my goodbyes outside and then led him into the box and then left him.

There is no reason to think the injection will distress your horse, they are unconcious before they even touch the ground, its just the danger element that may be a factor on whether you are able to be present or not for the reasons described above.

You should also know that in 2004 the vets I was using at the time who misdiagnosed my horse brought a portable xray machine to the yard and xrayed his neck. This gave a false reading. At Liverpool when I asked why the original xrays my vet had performed had not shown the damage to the vetebrae I was told that portable xray machines will sometimes give a false reading as the neck is made of very thick muscles (particuarly in a wobblers horse as they are very strong through their necks - or mine was anyway). This is what happened to me. I am not sure if portable xray machines have come on any since then. It might be worth asking your vet if this is a possibility. Maybe if it is the horse can be stabilised and then reffered to a large equine hospital where they are able to do stand up xrays with a large machine. My horse was given finadyne for about three days before he was stable enough to travel to Liverpool on a hired lorry. I was scared of the repercussions if he went down on the journey in my trailer.

I will be thinking of you on Friday, and I will say a little prayer for you as I know what a distressing time you must be having of it, it was the worst thing that has ever happened to me.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if I can help further. Anne x
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Thank you for your reply. Ur in box is full so I hope u don't mind me replying on here
I'm really sorry about your horse, it must have been awful.
My boy is a lot older, in his 20s but worked hard all his life, achieved a lot and I hoped to be able to offer him a happy retirement.
He was physically very well before December, he was still doing a bit of competing getting good scores over 68% at advanced level.
What symptoms and investigations did your boy have?
I feel atm I haven't enough information to just have him put down.
I know he cannot live in the stable so I have to get him so hd can go out muzzled to have field time....
He's been on box rest so long already since December and such a sweetheart about it.
I'm just gutted this is happening and feel like I cant cope really, I lost my other horse in her 30s to a sudden complete obstructive colic a few weeks before Xmas, she was so fit and well before that :(
And there's also my 2k vet bill to worry about as he's on a veteran policy so I've got to pay that myself :(
:(
 
He tends to try to do a piroutte turning to the right and walks as if in a v steep half pass to the right. Turning left he stands on his own hooves.
He doesn't look like he swings his legs outwards that much, certainly not turning to the right.
In the stable he is constantly looking drunk on his hind legs.
I mentioned to the vet he has had a thermal scan from 5 yrs ago showing a strange very small hot spot in his lumbar region. It could even be an issue on that region which is not diagnosically possible to xray :( I guess I will know more after he gets reassessed and xray tomorrow.
Trying to hope for the best, although I'm not even sure what that is and prepare for the worst......
 
It does sound like he might have done something to himself with the neuro symptoms that are on top of the lami ;).
 
amandaco2 said:
I'm really sorry about your horse, it must have been awful.

What symptoms and investigations did your boy have?
I feel atm I haven't enough information to just have him put down.


I'm just gutted this is happening and feel like I cant cope really, I lost my other horse in her 30s to a sudden complete obstructive colic a few weeks before Xmas, she was so fit and well before that :(

:(
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Yes it was dreadful. I ended up on anti-d's due to it, it absolutely tore me apart.

My boy just had his hind heels rub together, a strange jerking movement with his knees (where they appeared not to lock in the upright standing position and jerked about 2cm in each direction). The vet said it was because he was slightly back at the knee. He was incredibly strong in a headcollar and lead rope and had to be led everywhere with a chifney on, incredibly strong through the neck, he had had a sucession of male riders ride him and he went back to the dealer as he was too strong, although I just about coped with him SJ. Not long before he was PTS he was competing in a discovery class and had gone clear and the last jump he appeared to just go through it with his hind legs. I had a nasty experience doing the same class at a different venue, when he ended up on top of an oxer in the jump off, and we both landed on the floor, he was on teh correct stride and took off fine, but just couldn't seem to get his hind legs up and over. He had the strange bunny hop canter which would right itself by stopping, reining back and going forwards into canter. I paid for a fairly famous rider to ride him in the collecting ring (favour for my partner that works at the riding club I was competing at) and he did the same with him, he stopped reined back and it freed up his neck so I used that technique after. Rommy would be jumping brilliantly one minute (we won over £80 quid together BSJA) and he used to jump discovery - i was going to start doing Newcomers but then he got his symptoms, then the next day he would feel 'weird'. I had no idea it was neuro until the day I hacked him out and he was wobbling all over the road, felt very unstable and I had to get off and walk him back. Got the vet out straight away but still didn't get an answer. Then we got the longwinded wrong diagnosis and he wasn't able to go to Liverpool for ages for a diagnosis as they thought he had EHV and his swabs had to come back clear. He was a carrier but not a shredder apparently.

You could possibly opt for a myelogram. I don't know much about that only that the horse has to have a general anaethetic and obviously the risks of a neuro deficit horse coming round from that would be very much more complicated than the 'normal' horse because he doesn't know where his legs are, so I am assuming there is a very real danger from breaking a leg more readily than a horse that is unaffected by this condition, but I don't know this for a fact so you would need to discuss the options with your vet. They inject a dye into the spinal cord and it will show any impingement of the spinal column.

Because the vets weren't convinced it was wobblers (although I was) he never had any investigations until he reached Liverpool University Equine Hospital, where he was subject to a proper neuro examination and the xrays, and was PTS two hours after arriving.
When the xrays at Liverpool (which were all computer based 3D images) showed Rommys spinal column there was a gap of 17mm. There should have been a gap of 51mm. This was due to the nerves being pressed on which sent the signals from the brain to the legs.

I am sorry to hear of your other horse.

I will clear my inbox. Feel free to PM me if you want. Anne.
 
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My thoughts are with you OP. I went through the same recently so I know how you're feeling. A lovely kind person wrote to me and said the knowledge that you're doing the best you can for your horse will eventually give you comfort. I hope the same goes for you. Courage.
 
So sorry to hear about your boy :( I have seen a few horses PTS by injection and sometimes its everything from peaceful. If he does have it done by the gun I would strongly recommend that you're not there. The sound still haunts me to this day and I had to have it done a good few years ago but then again it is so unbelievably quick they don't have a clue whats happening. So sorry xxxx
 
Thinking of you today.

My mare was PTS 2 weeks ago, she was different because her intestines had ruptured so it was quite traumatic to watch as they couldn't get a vein as her whole body shut down, she wasn't in pain as she had a huge does of pain killer before it happened, it just took around 90 minutes.

Most horses I have seen PTS who aren't in major pain are given the jag and slip away quite quickly and quietly xx
 
I hope it goes well for you today. I have only ever used the gun with mine. Its quick if done by a skilled person. I like to stay with them- but that is my preference only. You have to do what is right for you as there is no right or wrong way in this. It's just tough. X
 
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